Same As It Never Was
by ProoowlingNinja
Summary: TF:A. “Bulkhead...This future...It’s a nightmare...This wasn’t supposed to happened! At least, not like this!” Bumblebee cried, breaking Bulkhead from his reminiscing. If Bulkhead were still naive as Bumblebee was, he would agree with the yellow 'bot.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi guys! Just another one-shot I have, a rather long one-shot that is (perhaps two or three chapters. Does that even count as a one-shot? No I don't think it does... Fine. It's not a one-shot.)... In every good cartoon there's always one episode where someone (usually either the leader or the youngest or the cheeriest of the group) is sent to a hellish or unpleasant future, and so I wondered what a hellish future of TF:A would be like. Please don't take this so seriously- well to a certain point anyway. I'm going to go hide because some people might be displeased about certain 'bot's and/or people. **

**Disclaimer: I don't think I need to tell you guys that I don't own Transformers Animated or any of the characters. Besides I think I morphed them horribly into oocs. Yes, I did draw some inspiration from the TMNT episode "Same as It Never Was" so you'll probably spot some similarities.**

**Warning: Violence. Lots and lots of violence (not in the beginning, but it builds up). Maybe some cursing. **

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**Same as It Never Was**

_**Chapter One**_

... ...What happened? How did he get here? These questions and thoughts similar were the only thing he remembered himself asking.

After Bumblebee slowly onlined his optics, he found himself lying uncomfortably on his side, atop of pieces of rubble and remnants of concrete. His processor stung as if someone had used it for shooting practice, while his entire chassis ached; the result of moving so quickly after awaking from a stasis sleep. Taking a few moments to recuperate and allow the remainder of his system to reboot, Bumblebee glanced around with half expectance to see the same usual buildings, roads, etc. of Detroit, but there wasn't any possible way that this...this..._vestige_...was the same Detroit that he knew.

What was this desolate place? Barely standing shards of aged buildings stood, where Bumblebee remembered great, giants once towered. Ruinous streets ran bare, aside from the many cracks that was etched into them. Even the sky, that was once a gentle blue, was twisted into a dark, foreboding gray above the city. Bumblebee's internal cycle programming told him it was the daytime according to Earth's standard, but if that was true, then where were all the humans?

"Hello?" Bumblebee called out hesitantly, hoping so deeply that someone would answer.

No answer.

"Hello?!" Bumblebee called again, with anxiousness accompanying his voice, but still after a few cycles passed, once again there wasn't an answer.

Maybe he could contact the others on his comm.-link. It's not like he had any other option now. Yes. That would be the best thing to do. So venting a sigh through his vents, Bumblebee slowly brought his index digit to temple of his helmet and activated his communicator.

"Hey this is Bumblebee! Anyone read me?" Bumblebee spoke hopingly. "Bulkhead? Ratchet? Anybody there?" Bumblebee asked quietly, his tone becoming more piteous and desperate with every word he spoke. "Prime? Prowl?..." Weird. It was like there were no other frequencies online. How was that even possible? Was he truly the only here?

A sound of incoming rotors is what broke Bumblebee from his pondering of what to do next. Swarms of the little police bots swarmed down from the sky and surrounded Bumblebee in mid-flight. At first he thought there must have been a robbery or something going on, but after realizing that these little machines were aiming at him there lasers, Bumblebee began to think otherwise. "_Attention. Autobot spotted. Prepare for_ _imminent comprehending for Lord Megatron.._" One of the 'bots ordered montonely.

"What?" Bumblebee questioned skeptically. Megatron? Did that thing really just say Megatron's name or was his processor frizting?

"_Surrender or suffer the consequences." _The same machine said, while it and the others began to charge their lasers.

Bumblebee took a step back, placing his servos on his pelvic arch. What on Cybertron was going on here? Normally Bumblebee would have no trouble with the pesky fliers (as he proved when he first met Sari), but this wasn't a normal situation. It appeared that they had a modification; they were slightly larger then the previous ones and each individually was branded with the Decepticon symbol. What next? Starscream joining the Autobots?

"_Resistance is futile. Surrender._" The unemotional voice began and suddenly released a bolt of neon lasers that skidded past Bumblebee's faceplate and uppermost of his frame. The other 'bots followed and suit and released wave after wave of lasers at the yellow mech.

Quickly, Bumblebee darted to the closest area that could be used as cover. He plunged behind a bulky slab of concrete approximately nine or ten feet away from where he was standing. Switching his hand like servos to his stingers, Bumblebee turned over and aimed above the concrete. Haphazardly Bumblebee locked onto one of the nearer 'bots firing at him and returned a few short yellow jolts.

"I'm slagged!" Bumblebee whimpered after seeing that his attacks were having no effect on the flying machines. It seemed like they were built with more protection on the plating; Bumblebee's lasers were only reflected off. "Man where's Bulkhead or Ratchet when you need them."

As if on a ironic, but fortunate for Bumblebee, queue, a familiar wrecking ball swerved into the scene and sent a good dozen crashing into a side of one of the crumbling buildings, after giving them a good clobbering. The silhouette of what Bumblebee thought to be his enormous, oil guzzling, companion leaped down from one of the rooftops and began to ruthlessly swing at the machines, which by now had turned their attention on the large 'bot attacking them and focused the lasers on him. Undeterred, Bulkhead shook off the advances and allowed the blasts to impact on him as he maneuvered the steel ball to strike machine after machine. As the number of flying 'bots diminished, the number of lasers fired at him shrank away as well. To add a finishing touch, Bulkhead grabbed a piece of rock nearly the size of Bumblebee's alternate mode and hurled it towards the few remaining robots.

If it were any other time, Bumblebee would have commented on how long it took the big hulk to come help him and made a big deal about it, but for once he was glad that Bulkhead made it in time.

"Good thing, you got here in time buddy." Bumblebee murmured with a sigh of relief, while reverting his stingers back to his regular servos. The flying machines had finally all been destroyed. "Why didn't you answer me on the comm.-link though Bulkhead?" He asked moving from the shelter of the concrete and taking a step forward, trying to focus his optics on his friend. Oddly, Bulkhead's form was darkened deeply by shadow.

"So...," Bulkhead's voice slowly began, but never moved from the shadow's cover, "the little coward finally came back." The voice added with a venomous grunt. Somehow Bulkhead's voice was _different_. It wasn't a different voice module or anything. Instead it was just a colder and maturer one then Bumblebee had last heard from Bulkhead before he woke up in this nightmare.

"Coward? Bulkhead what are you talking about? I didn't go anywhere!" Bumblebee replied in his own defense.

"Bumblebee! You've been gone for twenty stellar cycles! What were you thinking?" Bulkhead's voice questioned; fueled solely on rage.

"Twenty stellar cycles?!" Bumblebee repeated in shock. How could that be? "That's not possible!"

"It can and it is. How could you just abandon us like that?! We were a team! Because of you...they're..." The anger and sorrow expressed in his voice was quite obvious. Bulkhead wasn't lying, despite how much Bumblebee wanted him to be.

"Bulkhead...I would never leave you guys! I-I...just woke up and found myself here. I don't even know how I got here!" Bumblebee pleaded. He couldn't believe that Bulkhead, of all people, would accuse him of something so ridiculous. Bumblebee could feel the larger robot glaring up a solar storm at him in silence, despite the lack of visible visage. You would have to have bad optics and horrible audio receptors to not notice the tension in the air.

Hearing the vents in Bulkhead's pedes slightly rev up, Bumblebee realized that his much larger friend was taking a few steps forward. Bumblebee was almost relieved in thinking that Bulkhead's anger had simmered down enough for him to come out from the shadows, but it was soon replaced in doubt to think how much Bulkhead had changed. His gentle, yet klutzy, happiness seemed to of evaporated. While Bumblebee was "gone" were things really that bad?

"We should get back to the base now." Bumblebee heard Bulkhead mutter behind him. He turned to give the large 'bot an agreeing smile, but his faceplate allowed horror to overcome it.

Standing where he expected Bulkhead to be wasn't Bulkhead at all. Bumblebee was utterly shocked and dazed to see Lugnut's purple and green chassis with Bulkhead's arm units and stabilizing servos.

"Shocking isn't it?" Lugnut's mouth moved, but Bulkhead's voice filled with odium repulsion came out, instead of the deep, scratchy one of the Deceptcion. "After eleven long stellar cycles, I'm still disgusted by it."

"Bulk...head..." Bumblebee stumbled on his words; his optics never leaving that of Bulkhead's "body". "W-what...what happened Bulkhead?"

"Heh. Lugnut and I got into a good scrap a while back. I was able to get him offline, but my chassis was too damaged to be salvaged. Luckily Ratchet was still around to give me a spark transfer by using the EMP. Poor 'bot though...Without Sari's key, the EMP was too much of a toll on him and his old chassis..." Bulkhead explained dryly.

"You mean Ratchet's...offline..." Bumblebee murmured in daze of disbelief, not really meaning it as a question, but as an inconvenient truth.

"Yep..." Bulkhead assured him with a harsh tone, while Lugnut...err.. Bulkhead's face plate made a flinch of sorrow as his single optic narrowed dimly. "He joined the well of AllSparks quite some time ago. But he isn't the only one we lost ever since Megatron gained control of the AllSpark."

"That's not possible! Bossbot and Megatron battled it out on the Ark, but Megatron shattered the AllSpark..."

"Have you fried your circuits Bumblebee?! You were there! Long enough to see Megatron get the AllSpark anyway... Your disappearance seemed like an omen of what was to come. Megatron used the AllSpark against us and more importantly to begin conquering Earth and, we got our afts beaten badly. No matter how many times we tried to stop him, it was always the same result every single time. Sure we all tried our best to keep fighting; it took a toll on us after a while. Especially Prime. He cracked under the pressure and just left one day, though I always thought that Prowl would be the first to abandon ship. No idea if Prime's still online or not, but I could care less about that back ho-less leader."

"I don't understand...How did this..." Bumblebee spoke out loud sadly. This wasn't the Earth he knew. This miserable place wasn't the precious home he slowly came to enjoy. All the lights of the city, the unintended harmony of the people talking, what Bulkhead was, their team...

"Prowl's the same stoic ninja-bot." Bulkhead continued on, most likely not hearing the yellow mech's small protests. "Well he's the one to change the least out of us anyway. I'm not sure if I should be surprised or not. I mean he is more bitter these days, but who came blame him? Ever since Sari..."

"Sari?!" Bumblebee snapped in attention, just at the mention of his human friend's name. Bumblebee couldn't believe how stupid he was. Sari's welfare hadn't even crossed his processor until that moment. "Where's Sari Bulkhead?!"

Bulkhead heaved a heavy sigh and bowed his head, shame written all over his faceplate. "She's...gone Bumblebee... Blitzwing saw to that nearly eighteen stellar cycles ago..." He whispered hatefully.

"No..." Bumblebee couldn't believe it. He wouldn't believe it! There's no way that Sari was gone. It just wasn't believable. Then why was his spark trying to tell him otherwise? Why was it pulsing angrily underneath his chest plate? Allowing himself to slide sorrowfully to the concrete beneath his feet, Bumblebee found himself glaring at pale concrete below him. What if it was his fault that this happened? What if it was his fault that Sari was gone? He wasn't there to protect her, even if he didn't know how he got here in the first place. "No! No! No!" Bumblebee cried in rage. He drew back his hand and curled it into a fist. Hastily he slammed the tight fist into the ground and raised it back into the air before the pounding the ground once more.

"Sari thought it would be a good idea to use the key on Megatron...Turn your back for just a nano-kilk and she's blown up...Sari isn't the only one we lost since then though..." Bulkhead stated sourly. "After Megatron forced Professor Sumdac to build his robot army, he studied the schematics and decided that Sari's dad was unnecessary. There's also Captain Fanzone. Poor guy was stomped on by Megatron like he was an ant-droid...It's funny 'Bee...You never notice how much you miss a guy who always gripes about how much he hates machines until he's gone..."

"Bulkhead...This future...It's a nightmare...This wasn't supposed to happened! At least, not like this!" Bumblebee cried, breaking Bulkhead from his reminiscing. If Bulkhead were still naive as Bumblebee was, he would agree with the small yellow 'bot, but after all that he had witnessed during the past twenty stellar cycles, Bulkhead knew that he could not bring himself to it. This constant war and fighting had changed him greatly. He had no cheery outlook on his cycles anymore and as every orbital cycle dragged on, the small hope he held for a change died more and more.

"Things never go the way you want them to." Bulkhead replied coldly and suddenly his entire body shifted over itself; he was changing into his vehicle mode. "Let's go. If we stay here any longer, more of those machines are bound to be back." Bumblebee's optics carefully studied the truck before him. It wasn't quite like Bulkhead's large van form, but still stood similar in size. This green and purple vehicle was more like a camper truck with a large and roomy cover on the backside.

When Bumblebee realized that Bulkhead was pulling off without him, he quickly switched to his small yellow police car and sped after him.

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**Well...what do you all think? Do you like it? Do ya? Do ya? Well, just let me know in a review if you enjoyed it. If you're surprised now, then just wait 'till the next chapter. Over and out!  
**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: An update so soon? Why yes. It is. Can you believe that some people messaged me privately and called me a 'rip-off.' I was happy to tell them that I did borrow the title and the elements of SANIW from TMNT though. I have no shame in admitting that. But I want to tell you all that I have no intention of copying the episode word for word, but just the major points. Like a war-torn and maturer Bulkhead similar to the older Mikey in the episode. Honestly I think this is a very challenging thing to do, especially since this theme has been done so many times that it's near a breaking point, without being called a copy cat. All I ask is for you all to give me a fair chance and do not resort to flaming me. Do I have to get Hatchet (if you don't know who that is, here's a hint: Sideswipe and Sunstreaker are usually the target of his wrenchy wrath) out here people?**

**Disclaimer: I don't think I need to tell you guys that I don't own Transformers Animated or any of the characters. Besides I think I morphed them horribly into pathetic oocs. Yes, I did draw some inspiration from the TMNT episode "Same as It Never Was" as well as other series episodes that are similar, so you'll probably spot some similarities.**

**Warning: Violence. Lots and lots of violence (not in the beginning, but it builds up). Maybe some cursing. **

* * *

**Same As It Never Was**

_**Chapter Two**_

The drive seemed to go by slowly, especially since Bulkhead ordered Bumblebee to constantly follow behind him into hiding whenever he spotted more of the patrol bots on his scanners. At first Bumblebee believed that they were heading to the factory, but Bumblebee had to remind himself that during the past twenty stellar cycles the homey factory may not even be their base anymore. It may have been destroyed like the other buildings in this dreadful place; wiped away like an old stain as Sari and all of the others were.

"Hey Bulkhead?" Bumblebee quietly called over to the speeding truck while his optical units watched old arches of building after building pass by.

"Quiet! If you don't want more of the things to find your frequency and come after us, then I suggest you mute your vocal amp. and be _quiet,_" said the bulky truck vexatiously.

Bumblebee really couldn't blame Bulkhead for his attitude, but he was still taken back by his response. He must have seen a lot over the time; Sari, Ratchet, his friends and countless number of innocents purged away like they were nothing. And of top of that, he didn't even have his own body anymore. What did it feel like to wake up from stasis rest every time expecting to see your face, your chassis, but only to remember that you'll never see it again? Bumblebee didn't have an answer, but he could respect his older friend's command. So the yellow 'bot did just that and quickly turned down his vocal generator without a single word of argument or a usually snappy comeback about Bulkhead's attitude.

When Bulkhead slowly came to a halt and transformed into his robot mode, Bumblebee quickly pulled behind the large 'bot, his body unfolding as he changed to robot mode as well. He looked at the large, but crumbled building ahead and titled his head slightly. Despite being in a broken state, the warehouse seemed slightly familiar.

"This is..." Bumblebee drawled, not knowing exactly how to describe it.

Bulkhead glanced over to the smaller 'bot and finished for him, "the Last Resistance."

"Are Prime and Prowl in there?"

"You're half right. Let's go." Bulkhead hissed quietly and quickly darted to the building. As Bumblebee pursued after the giant's disappearing form, he couldn't help but to acknowledge his more stern movements that far from his once clumsy ones.

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After constantly climbing over large pieces of rock and concrete lying in the walkway and passing a large slab square of concrete that Bulkhead pushed aside, Bumblebee found himself in a dark, roomy area, where a small amount of humans uneasily paced around to his surprise. Some were carrying papers and some carried weaponry, but one thing that Bumblebee noticed made the humans seem almost identical; each, regardless of gender or age, wore patched clothing and hopeless faces. Where were the bright colors and variety Bumblebee once remembered? Was even that taken away from these people?

One thing that Bumblebee that was strange though, was how it was possible for such a large area to be here, because from the outside the building appeared to be small. Unless there was a holographic projector involved or something that cloaked the building to make it seem less conspicuous.

"Bulkhead? Where are all the people?" Bumblebee asked hesitantly.

"These _are_ the people, Bumblebee. The lucky ones anyway..." Bulkhead stated laconically, but barely turned to look at the smaller mech. "Megatron sent out those drones to force people to continue making more robots at Sumdac's tower; expendable labor. A few humans tried to fight back, like Captain Fanzone, but I don't really need to tell you the result. You can see it wherever you look. Detroit is nothing but a battlefield now."

"This is so...horrible," said the yellow 'bot piteously.

"You'll get used to it." Bulkhead replied monotonely.

"We have to do something Bulkhead!"

"Didn't you hear me Bumblebee? We tried so many times to go against Megatron that I lost count around two thousand-ninety attempts."

"But we can't just let Megatron get away with this future! Maybe if we just-"

"Bumblebee!" Bulkhead snarled suddenly and whipped around. With a menacing looking appearing on his faceplate, the giant took a step towards Bumblebee and seethed his arms through the air diagonally; his frame beginning to rumble with a low roar. "What don't you understand?! Take a look around! Does it really look like we have the time or supplies to worry about going against Megatron right now?! Tell me Bumblebee, is it _really_ worth fighting a battle you know you'll lose?" Bulkhead's ominous voice flooded.

Bumblebee took a single step back as soon as Bulkhead began his bellowing. He still wasn't used to seeing Bulkhead with Lugnut's face and it only made it worse that currently Bulkhead's emotions were being channeled through Lugnut's optic and vocal chords. It was just plain awkward.

"Is it necessary to be using such a loud, distracting voice, you behemoth? I can't concentrate on my work! Are you sure that you didn't receive Lugnut's..._astute..._ spark instead?" A suspiciously familiar high-pitched voice came from behind Bumblebee.

Quickly Bumblebee turned to look for the owner of the voice, but felt his entire chassis freeze in anxiety after seeing who stood merely feet away. Despite that his entire chest plate was carved in with scratches, the cockpit covering for his spark chamber was shattered, his servo covers were a faded, almost rusted, color, and that his wings were replaced by long, flat blades of a rotor, Bumblebee could never mistake when he was in Starscream's annoying presence.

"You know Starscream, if I didn't know any better, I'd say that you're trying to insult me," Bulkhead commented slowly as his optic narrowed to a glare at the seeker.

"Now wherever would you get an idea like that?" Starscream asked with a dry tinted sarcasm. "Well, well, well," Starscream began after he turned his attention to the yellow 'bot, "what do we have here?" Bringing a digit to the chin area of his face place, Starscream scanned Bumblebee up and down a few times with his crimson optics.

Ignoring the antagonizing stares he felt the Decepticon pass throw him and the disgust rising in his system, Bumblebee faced Bulkhead and gave him a questioning stare. "Bulkhead. Why is _he_ here?"

"Don't you know? Oh that's right! You've been gone for nearly twenty solar cycles, haven't you?" Starscream asked with a sly sense of innocence in his tone. "Since that worthless pile of scrap metal got his grubbing clench on the AllSpark, I've had to find some _assistance_ in these little ranks. I'm nothing more than a_ humble_ scientist now," Starscream chuckled deeply as he swayed his arms out; trying to emphasize the humble even with contradictory frown on his face.

"Why do I find that hard to believe?" Bumblebee asked with crossed servos.

"Despite the _dubious _catching up we've had, I have more important matters to attend to-"

"Starscream." Bumblebee recognized the unperturbed voice of Prowl call out the seeker and turned to find the source in curiosity. How much had Prowl change over the twenty stellar cycles? Did he even have the same chassis as before? "I thought I might find you here. Take these disks to Lockdown. He may be a shoddy medic to turn to, but can decode fairly well."

Bumblebee saw that, fortunately, Prowl wasn't greatly different to a point where you couldn't recognize him, but he still looked quite different. His right shoulder blade was missing; almost if it was cut cleanly off just above his chest plate. The black and gold paint was at such a sallow point, it was almost appeared silver and the two pieces above his visor was fractured and broken. But the thing that Bumblebee took into notice mostly was Prowl's right arm or what was supposed to be his arm. Connected at the joint of the higher arm area was a distinctly blue colored laser.

He didn't know whether to say anything or not to the ninja-bot until he saw that Prowl had figured out that the shorter 'bot was watching him. Bumblebee lifted up a hand to wave slightly and gave a solemn, "Hey Prowl. How've you been?" Though he didn't really expect a "Hi" or anything in return, Bumblebee certainly didn't expect to be tackled at upon sight. Prowl had done just that without warning after wrenched look rousing anger appeared on his face plate and was straddled above Bumblebee.

"How dare you show yourself now?!" Prowl hissed infuriatingly; his left servo making its way to Bumblebee's throat and gripped at it as tightly as possible. Bumblebee was almost certain that if Prowl squeezed just a bit harder, he would for sure cause one of his energon tubes to burst.

"Oooh... Do I sense some tension?" Starscream asked with a snicker.

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**Oh Starscream. You just love to state the obvious don't you?**

**Is it weird that I was listening to ****Caramelldansen while I wrote this? Later this weekend when I'll most likely have a new update. Over and Out!**

**Edit: Thanks RWG! I revised this chapter to a better point thanks to you!(English was never really my subject.)  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Hey guys! Boy I feel so brain dead, especially since it is very hard to be a junior, luckily though it hasn't killed my thought process lately. I'm thinking of asking someone to be my beta reader for this, because I am not that great with my grammar or just plain English and I always miss things that I kick myself for missing in the first place (after being corrected). Maybe school is having a bigger affect on me then I thought. So if anyone is interested, I guess just message me or whatever Beta readers do... I don't know what it is about this, but I just feel like I have to get this finished before I resume on my other fics. Maybe it's because this little plot bunny is months old and somehow found a way out of its cage. I can't believe this is almost half way done though. Yeah. It's not intended to be a very long fic.  
**

**Disclaimer: I don't think I need to tell you guys that I don't own Transformers Animated or any of the characters. Besides, I think I morphed them horribly into pathetic oocs. Yes, I did draw some inspiration from the TMNT episode "Same as It Never Was" as well as other series episodes that are similar, so you'll probably spot some similarities.**

**Warning: Violence. Lots and lots of violence (not in the beginning, but it builds up). Maybe some cursing. **

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_**Recap: **__After waking to a shock, our young hero Bumblebee finds himself not in Detroit, but in a nightmare. After being saved by Lugnut-bound Bulkhead, Bumblebee grievously learns that things have changed and among them, his friends, his team, and his old life have vanished from existence like the wind's evanescence. What could possibly be worse of a shock to the youngest of the repair crew? Perhaps Starscream's unexpected alignment with the "Last Resistance" or being attacked relentlessly by whom other then Prowl?_

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**Same As It Never Was**

_**Chapter Three**_

Bumblebee never thought that Prowl was _capable_ of displaying sheer acts of lethality. Could this have been a mistake on his behalf? Sure, he pressed the ninja to more then his fair share on more than one occasion, but how was he supposed to know that twenty stellar cycles later into the future he would be at the mercy of the very same 'bot? Even so, Bumblebee never once saw true rage or wrath on that face plate, unlike what this one wore. He saw nothing of tranquility or calmness; only violence and virulence. He knew that Prowl was very angry (it seemed like everyone was currently), and he didn't need the emphasis of Prowl's optics glaring down at him or his tight grasp on him for the obvious.

"_Why_?! Why have you returned?!" Prowl spat in an enraged question. From the cracks in his voice, it almost sounded as if he was overwhelmed and barely kept himself together.

"Prowl...Just listen..." Bumblebee pleaded quietly, his optics straying away from the death glares focused at him.

"Listen?! What could you possibly have to say for yourself?" Prowl's servo only pressed down with greater force instead of loosening as Bumblebee wished that it had.

With a growing sense of a jolting restiveness, Bumblebee gazed weakly upwards. Bulkhead had said that Prowl was the one who changed the least of them, but Bumblebee specifically remembered that Prowl was nothing like this...callous mech. Why wasn't Bulkhead helping the yellow 'bot anyway? Quickly glancing to the still larger and bulky one, Bumblebee came to the realization that Bulkhead was watching with a rather unsure and acerbic tone on his faceplate, but did nothing to assist him.

This future- no... nightmare. It just wasn't right. Bulkhead may have been just a big, unsightly klutz, but he always stood up for his friends even if the consequences would mean a chewing out from Prime or Ratchet. Bumblebee couldn't comprehend exactly every single ordeal that the big mech had been put through, excluding his change of chassis, to change him so drastically, but it must have been horrible. It didn't seem like anyone else had it easy either though. No one was spared. Sari and Ratchet were gone, Prime was nowhere to be seen, and Bulkhead wasn't even "Bulkhead" anymore. Not to mention that Prowl easily became a lethality by just a tiny spark of surprise.

Suddenly Bumblebee found himself broken from his sad reminiscing and forced to stand up by Prowl. He was suspiciously stronger for a ninja 'bot; a lot stronger then Bumblebee had remembered him to be. Than again the twenty stellar cycles could have allowed Prowl the chance to train himself more vigorously. But at the moment, that didn't particularly help Bumblebee's situation.

"Get out! Go back!" Prowl hissed at Bumblebee as he pushed him forward. Bumblebee turned with a questioning glance, but found himself face to face with Prowl's laser before being shoved forward again.

"Go back?! Prowl please-"

"You had your chance. Now leave!"

Prowl couldn't be serious! If Bumblebee went back outside then chances were that the scouting machines would find him and the outcome would not be good.

"Enough!" The sudden boom from Bulkhead's voice caused both Prowl and Bumblebee to cease movement and both quickly turned to face the larger mech. Prowl's faceplate wore an angered glare that demanded an explanation while Bumblebee was grateful that Bulkhead decided to intervene; better late than never.

Perhaps things only became worse because of Bulkhead defending Bumblebee. Prowl and Bulkhead had entered a standoff of glares accompanied by an occasional brazened grunt that only added more tension to the room. The only one who seemed to be unaffected by this was Starscream.

From a glance towards the "scientist" standing behind Bulkhead, Bumblebee realized that he was obviously enjoying this. He didn't say anything, but it wasn't like he had to. The flier was leaning on to the support of his lower right servo with crossed arms. An amused grin was all but hidden on the seeker's faceplate. It even looked like he was chuckling at the sight of Prowl and Bulkhead, inaudibly that is. Once a Decepticon, always a Decepticon. Starscream and his attitude was definitely not an exception from that no matter how much he would try to say otherwise.

"Let him go Prowl..." Bulkhead quietly warned as he watched Prowl with a narrowing optic while Bumblebee turned back towards the two. Prowl only seemed to become angrier and angrier with every word Bulkhead murmured, but remained silent. Venting a frustrated growl, Prowl slowly turned his focus away from larger mech.

He turned back to face Bumblebee, dim blue optics darting accusingly to the yellow 'bot. Bumblebee almost expected to be pushed or yelled at once more, but after fearfully glancing up towards the taller black and gold mech and found himself at a loss of words. For a split-moment Bumblebee could have sworn Prowl's malicious faceplate had switched to an almost anguished one written with regret. Unfortunately any trace of such a face had quickly disappeared when Prowl hastily turned away and marched up to Starscream.

"Why are you still here?! Take these to Lockdown! NOW!" Prowl barked at the befuddled seeker as he withdrew small, grey disks from the storage area of his golden throwing stars and thrusted them into Starmscream's servo.

"Of course! But only since you asked so nicely," Starscream replied with his ever so annoying and screechy sarcasm.

Prowl retorted with a vexed glare Starscream, as if sending off a silent warning not to push it, but did nothing more and walked away in slow pace.

"Geeze Bulkhead," Bumblebee began warily and stared questiongly at his larger friend after being sure that the ninja 'bot was out of hearing distance, "I thought you said Prowl changed the least!"

"Well, he never acted that way before." It was the only response Bulkhead gave. Nothing more or nothing less.

"It doesn't take that much to figure it out," came Starscream's voice in a deducting manner. He pointed his index digit at Bumblebee and chuckled wryly. "He blames you."

"Blames me? For what?"

"Everything I suppose." Starscream moved his arms nearly around him in a circle in an emphasizing manner.

"Everything? What do you mean?"

"Must I explain such a simple thing to you? It feels like I'm communicating to nothing more than a protoform! Yes _everything_! Your allies' deaths! Megatron seizing the AllSpark! But above all, I believe he thinks of you as nothing _more_ than a coward who hid himself away for twenty stellar cycles." Bumblebee could feel Starscream watching his every move as he spoke with his snobbish tone. Despite how much he wanted to deny it, Bumblebee knew that he was right. Starscream's words had made an impact and Starscream most likely knew that fully well. Why else would he add, "Then again what would I know about grudges?" innocently at the end, with a coy smile?

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**Slag. Why does each chapter keep getting shorter? (Quality over quantity?) Oh well...On a happier note, it's my birthday September 9 (which is this Tuesday.) B-day wishes anyone? See you all next update!**

**Edit: Thanks once again RGW!!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Hai guyz! Holy cow! Has it already been two weeks?!... Sorry this took so long, but I was determined to proof-read this, so I hope that I don't have too many grammar mistakes. Not much to say, so I'll leave it at that. Anyway, thanks a lot for the reviews everyone (well those who actually put more then "Update soon!" anyway) Not that I don't mind the enthusiasm, but I would appreciate it if some of the reviews could be a little more constructive. **

**Disclaimer: I don't think I need to tell you guys that I don't own Transformers Animated or any of the characters. Besides, I think I morphed them horribly into pathetic oocs and now I have to go as far as adding OCs into the story! Le gasp! Yes, I did draw some inspiration from the TMNT episode "Same as It Never Was" as well as other series episodes that are similar, so you'll probably spot some similarities. **

**Warning: Violence. Lots and lots of violence (Ok. Maybe that's a bit exaggerated.) Maybe some cursing.**

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_Anger is one letter short of danger_.

**-Unknown**

_Sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry, but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel._

**-Unknown**

_Anger ventilated often hurries toward forgiveness; and concealed often hardens into revenge._

**-****Edward G. Bulwer-Lytton**

* * *

"_He blames you..._ _Yes_ _everything_! _Your allies' deaths_!... _But above all, I believe he thinks of you as nothing __more__ than a coward who hid himself away for twenty stellar cycles._"

--

--

-

Prowl blamed him. Bumblebee accepted that. But why?

"Why else would he act so unexpectedly after thirty stellar cycles of remaining so normative? I've kept an optic on him for quite some time – partially for curiosity, but mostly suspicion." It was almost like Starscream could see Bumblebee's deepest thoughts. Or perhaps Bumblebee was just too easy to read- as if he was an open book. Who could tell when dealing with an arrogant narcissist like Starscream? But of course he did not stop there. "He found somewhere to conceal his anger, even try to throw it away. But unchecked anger is _always_ the most dangerous. It still tries to strut about, despite being a shackled beast. All it takes is a small irregular, unexpected moment to upset the balance and an un-maintainable situation is born. You," Starscream explained inimically and raised a long index digit towards Bumblebee once more, "Are just the small catalyst to do so."

Bumblebee sighed and lowered his optics to the floor, keeping awkwardly silent. Maybe it was his fault that things had turned out this way. Maybe he could have somehow stopped this from happening. But how?! How could he, when he did not even know how he arrived here in the first place?!

"Silly me. I had forgotten about these _bourgeoisies_," Starscream drawled he raised one of the gray disks and examined it with a grudging contempt. "I supposed I should go now, shouldn't I?"

Feeling the larger presence of Starscream lingering just before him, Bumblebee found himself staring at Starscream's face plate hovering very close to him after glacing up. He couldn't help but to glare at the seeker when he realized that Starscream was, yet again, mockingly smiling at him. He was once again taking pleasure in his discomfort. The silence dragged on as the intimidating aura of Starscream overwhelmed the hesitant one that of Bumblebee and even seeped throughout the room.

With a short snicker, Starscream turned and walked away– obviously satisfied with himself.

What was Bumblebee supposed to do now? What could he do? Despite how much he wanted there to be a way to fix this future- right the wrong of this nightmare, he couldn't do it alone. And it's not like he had help at the moment anyway. Bulkhead became too much of a seemingly pacifist and didn't even want to hear Bumblebee talk about any attempt against Megatron. Prowl, if what Starscream concluded was true, would probably amputate a servo if Bumblebee came anywhere near him, and Starscream...Starscream just couldn't be trusted. It didn't matter if Bulkhead 'assured' Bumblebee that he was an ally or if the seeker himself claimed to be fighting for the better good; his better good anyway. He just couldn't bring himself to trust the sly little (well maybe not so much) creep. His past experiences warned him against that.

"Bumblebee," came Bulkhead's quiet voice. Bumblebee turned guiltily towards his larger friend, with drooping shoulders. Lug- uh...Bulkhead's dull faceplate expressed a worn, yet stern tone when Bumblebee looked over to him. He waited a moment before continuing (perhaps to be sure that the younger mech was actually paying attention) but patiently began soon after. "I'm going to survey the area for any surviving humans, so I'll be back soon."

Listening to Bulkhead, Bumblebee felt himself frown after processing what was being said. "So...you're leaving?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yes," Bulkhead replied simply.

"Do you want me to go with you?"

"No I'll be fine...Just stay here. You need to recharge right?"

"Oh...Yeah, good point. I guess I do need the rest..." Bumblebee was beginning to realize that though Bulkhead didn't come out and say it, he didn't trust him either. The unsure-ness in his voice easily gave it away. Who could blame him though? He must have felt so betrayed when his best friend wasn't there to help protect their cause and- even worse, his home. What would Ratchet think of him were he still online? Would he follow suit with Prowl and accuse him of abandoning them? It wouldn't surprise Bumblebee if he did.

Bumblebee watched with an overwhelming sadness from being so helpless while Bulkhead shuffled away in creaky steps.

The instant the large form of Bulkhead had disappeared from sight, Bumblebee became aware of the many different eyes that darted toward him suspiciously. The humans were giving him as well a welcome as Prowl. No smiles or even unexpressive faces; only squints and glares followed him and his movements.

"Uh...Hi...," Bumblebee murmured with a small wave, hoping to come off as humbly as possible.

This only seemed to make things worse. Some of the younger looking humans whispered to other similar aged ones standing beside them, while the older adults crossed their arms in an angered notion. Taking a step back in acknowledgement, Bumblebee released a nervous chuckle and twiddled his thumb digits awkwardly. How was he going to gain the trust of humans, who obviously weren't comfortable with him, if he couldn't even prove to his teammates that he'd never abandon them?

Bumblebee sighed and turned away. He realized that the humans didn't want anything to do with him. For now he just wanted to prevent causing any trouble and walked to the nearest rubble-inhabited corner, shaking off the glares of a few humans that he passed by. He placed a servo on a sturdier part of the wall and leaned against while kneeling down to ground level and gently flipped over- his backside now pressed against the wall. Perhaps it wouldn't be such a bad time to take some time to recharge. It's not like Bumblebee knew when Bulkhead would return.

_CRUNCH_! Bumblebee nearly leaped up onto his stabilizing servos in surprise when he felt an electrical shock surge up from his lower half. It wasn't enough to even faze him, but he still didn't like it. Lifting himself up, Bumblebee found small pieces of crushed metal and blitzing circuitry on the spot below him. Unsure of what exactly the thing was,Bumblebee pinched at it and lifted it to his face plate for a closer examination.

"Oh no!! My spy-bot!"

Looking down, Bumblebee saw a female human staring up at him- more at whatever it was that he was holding in dismay. She had light blue visual optics, or as Sari called theme, eyes. The younger humans obviously taller and more developed- indicating that she was older than Sari had been? But she was definitely a paler and lighter tone and she imprinted with strange brown speckles on her frowning face- for some odd reason. Perhaps it was some sort of identifying method?

"It took months to build that prototype...Aw man..."

Gasping, Bumblebee realized that he unintentionally crushed the girl's work. He quickly held it down to her motioned apologetically.

"I'm sorry! I didn't see it!"

"Don't be," she murmured sadly as she brought the bits of metal and circuits to her chest and allowed herself to fall back against some rubble. Her bulgy over-shirt almost similar colored as her protein strands, folded in a few creases as she sat back. "I guess I should be more careful where I leave my projects. But I really wasn't expecting a giant robot to sit on it though...Hope..." She gave a small smile and looked up to Bumblebee.

"Huh?" Bumblebee asked, his optics staring down at the girl in befuddlement.

"My name's Hope," she explained as she poked a small portion metal in her hand. Curiously, she glanced back to Bumblebee after a few moments. "What's yours?"

* * *

**Yeah I know...boring. Well it is. Boring, but important I suppose. This will be one of the very few- with a large emphasis on few, OC's that will be introduced. You know what you should do to accept Hope, listen to Tara Strong as Rikku from Final Fantasy 10 or 10 Pt. 2. Ironic? Yes. Cliché? Very much. Why you ask? Because Tara does Sari's voice. But that's the closest voice I can think of that sounds like it could be a Hope to me.**

**And yes turtlegirl. I have watched that video. I must say that it's one of the things that inspired me. I'm quite a fan of Yoraee myself. If you haven't heard of Yoraee on youtube, I highly recommend doing that- for she exceeds in making highly defined music videos. **

**Edit: Thanks again RWG! Hopefully you'll be right about that! XD**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Wow...I fail. It's been more than a month! I'm so sorry everybody! I got so tied up in a paper I've been working on for the past few weeks and then some. I haven't really had much time to work on this. So yeah, I apologize for that. Thank you all for the encouraging reviews everyone! :D Anyway, I just wanted to let you guys know that I think I'm going to try to upload a new chapter every other week. It really depends on my school work. (I know I'll be swamped next week because I have to make an election commercial for US History all week for the candidate I support. I'm not going to say who that is because it doesn't matter. I'm not even old enough to vote and I don't want people who support the other candidate to flame my fic for stupid and irrelevant reasons.) So enjoy!! **

**Disclaimer: We all know that if I actually owned anything connected to Transformers, I would die happy. Sadly I do not. As I've stated, I've drawn inspirations from episodes of many series with this plot, but I will not copy every single word and event; just the concept of the plot. **

**Warning: An epically awesome (not the cool way) turn of events, Starscream's crude humor, and perhaps cursing with Cybertronian diction.

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**

_We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars_

**-Oscar Wilde**

_Hope is the most exciting thing in life and if you honestly believe that love is out there, it will come. And even if it doesn't come straight away there is still that chance all through your life that it will._

**-Josh Hartnett**

_Where there's life, there's hope._

**-Terence **

"_My name's Hope," she explained as she poked a small portion metal in her hand. Curiously, she glanced back to Bumblebee after a few moments. "What's yours?"_

--

--

-

**Same As It Never Was **

_**Chapter Five**_

"I'm Bumblebee," Bumblebee replied as he nervously shifted by the teenaged girl. It was unexpected that one of the humans was willing to talk to him, but it was a good relief.

"Bumblebee?" Hope asked, following with a giggle. This caused Bumblebee to cock an optic ridge at her and the sudden laughing. Was she making fun of him? Did she come to talk to him, just to laugh at him? Bumblebee slowly sunk his head downward and gave an equivalent to a 'sigh'. He (or any other of his kind) couldn't sigh – no, it was physically impossible for they did not breathe, but it was a useful human expression to mimic.

"I'm sorry!" Hope suddenly blurted, making Bumblebee to glance in her direction. She leapt up from her spot and quickly waved her arms in an apologetic, yet exasperated manner as she continued. "I didn't mean to laugh! I just didn't expect you to have such a cute name!"

"My name's cute?" Bumblebee asked, grateful that Hope wasn't laughing at him. But that didn't mean that it wasn't a bit awkward. There was no way that Sentinel, wherever the fragging glitch-head was or even if he was still online, had _cute _in mind when he grudgingly named Bumblebee.

"Well, I would have never guessed 'Bumblebee.' To me, you look more like a 'Hotshot.' Heh heh...," Hope sprightly reasoned as she leaned against the wall and slid back down to the floor level. She picked up the sparking remains of the "Spy-bot" that had fallen to the ground when she had jumped up and began prodding the exposed wires and circuitry with her index digit. Bumblebee watched her for a few quiet moments and listened as Hope murmured a few inaudible words.

"So you built that?" he asked, not expecting Hope to jerk her head upward suddenly the way she did. It was like that she was so intensely focused that she had forgotten about the yellow mech was sitting beside her.

"Oh...Yeah...I started studying schematics of the D.S.U. robots a few years ago. I still don't think I'm really good at this though. I can't even build a simple radio without it exploding in my face..."

"D.S.U?"

"That means '**Decepticon Search Units**.' They're the little robots that are always flying around on the streets. Anyway, I didn't really understand a lot about circuitry or technology, but Bulkhead gave me some tips when he brought me some parts of robots that he destroyed. Prowl was the most help to me because he tutored me for a little while. I was surprised by how much he knows, but I guess that was because he was on the space bridge repair crew..."

"How do you know about that?" Bumblebee asked.

"Well he didn't say a whole lot about the past, but Prowl told me a little about what he did before all of this happened," Hope stated as she moved her arms around in emphasis, "He told me about how your crew found the AllSpark, how you all came to Earth, when you met Sari...Never anything more though," Hope's voice drawled off as she looked towards Bumblebee and frowned at his oncoming expression of sadness.

"It must be nice not to be hated by everyone," Bumblebee mumbled in a melancholious manner and titled his head back against the wall. "How did this all happen? What if this really is my fault?"

"I know this is a shock Bumblebee, but you can't let what Prowl or that big jerk Starscream said get to you. Megatron did this. Not you."

"Everything just feels so wrong. Some of my closest friends are gone!...Nothing should be this way!"

"..." Bumblebee swore that he saw Hope open her mouth as if to say something, but she instead brought the mechanical leftovers closer to her front and rested her head down onto the support of her knees.

Heaving another sighing motion, Bumblebee shook his head vigorously and slowly rose from the ground, placing his servo on the wall for support once again. He had forgotten that he wasn't the only one who thought this future was a nightmare. He had only been here for what, two or three Earth hours? Humans like Hope were accustomed to it because they had grown into it. They probably thought there was no way to oppose Megatron and change the future because they had never known anything else.

"I guess there's nothing I can do about the past right now...I should focus on the present and what I can do to change it for now."

"Perfect timing! You couldn't have picked a better time to quit moaning like a protoform!"

Bumblebee and Hope alike looked up in surprise to see a partially gasping Starscream grasping his left servical unit as sparks swarmed from it and the exposed circuitry.

"What happened?!" Bumblebee asked slightly concerned about the seeker, but more so of what had caused the damage.

"Apparently those pesky little mockeries of true technological superiority ambushed me when I arrived to the designated area of that lecherous bounty hunter. It was almost as if they _expected_ me." The anger and annoyance in Starscream's voice was evident as he leaned against some rubble and rubbed the abrasion haphazardly. "Son of a glitch! Fragging codpiece!!"

"You were able to destroy them right?" Bumblebee asked cautiously. He was aware of how dangerous Starscream could be when he was bothered- he learned that from 'interrupting his speech'.

"What do you think fool?! Even _I_ know when it's pointless to fight a battle when you're outmatched. I barely escaped without serious damage..."

"Wait! So you just came back knowing that they would follow you?!"

"Ofcourse! While I was at it, I personally invited them for a visit!"

"_Starscream_," Bumblebee growled and placed his servos on his pelvic arch, glaring unmercifully at the intimidatingly taller seeker.

"Relax shrimp," Starscream 'assuringly' replied as he examined his injury in an uncaring manner without bothering to look at Bumblebee once. "Those glitches aren't skilled enough to keep up with my superb flying tactics. The malfunctions give up the chase when they lost sight their prey anyway. Obviously insistence wasn't held in processor when that foolish bag of bolts, Megatron, built those nuisances."

It all happened so quickly. Suddenly the ground began to shake as, if on queue, lasers perturbed through the walls and made little work of the already crumbling structure. The humans began to frightfully scurry back and forth in every which direction; their screams of confusion only slightly muted by the buzzes of the lasers. Hope too was crying in fear, but instead of running away, she quickly scuttled over to Bumblebee stabilizing servos and grasped on for dear life.

"Looks like you've lost your touch over the stellar cycles Starscream!" Bumblebee cried angrily over the chaos and sent the seeker a short glare. Relying solely on his logic of keeping the human girl safe, Bumblebee crouched down above Hope to protect her from the falling debris of the building. He saw that she had curled into a tight, cowering ball with her small human hands covering her ears like she was trying to block out the screams of the other humans. That was the last thing Bumblebee remembered before feeling something large and heavy striking against a fragile spot on the back on his processor.

**Whut? Whut? Cliffhanger? Yes, indeed. Happy early Halloween! I planted an itsy Easter egg here. Can you find it?**

**Hope doesn't seem like a Mary-sue right?...Right?...**

**CW, you are helping me out more than you know and mentioning my mistakes (despite how small they may become) is a big plus. I forget some grammar rules quite easily so, I usually look back on your reviews for a quick reminder. So yeah, you are a big help! Thank you for your compliments!  
**


	6. Chapter 6

_**Hello everyone. PN here.**_

_**Now I'm sure a lot of people have been wondering if I let Same It Never Was die, since it's been … a while since I updated it. To those people who have been anxiously been awaiting news about what I'm going to do, I'm grateful to you all for waiting. It pleases me to say that I will be continuing this fanfic. Just not on this account. I will re-upload SAINW to my new account on this site, Incogneeta. I'm also re-editing the chapters, so they should be easier on the eyes this time around, but I would be grateful if people still kept an eye out for any error. **_

_**I'm sure a lot of you all are wondering why it's almost been two whole years, and to be honest. I just lost track. In the beginning, I wanted to see how Animated would play out and I put writing this on a hiatus. Then I became distracted with school and trying to keep my grades at an 'A' and 'B' rate. One thing after another always managed to keep me from just taking the time to sit down and write. While it doesn't look an easier, now I'm going into college a month immediately after I graduate from high school this year, I'll try very hard to not let something like this happen again. **_

_**Over and out. **_


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